Hitzfeld started playing football in the late 1960s with TuS Stetten and FV Lörrach in the lower German leagues before he captured the attention of Swiss first division team FC Basel.[2] He joined the club, located on the other bank of the Rhine, in 1971. With this club the forward won the Swiss championship in 1972 and 1973, in the latter season even contributing as the top striker in Switzerland. In 1975, he also won the cup with Basel.[3]

In 1973, while playing at Basel, he graduated from nearby Lörrach college as a teacher of mathematics and sports. He retained his amateur status in order to be able to participate in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. There he played amongst others with Uli Hoeneß, the later Bayern Munich player and general manager who would hire him as coach in the late 1990s. One of the highlights of this tournament was the first encounter between the national sides of West and East Germany on the football pitch. West Germany lost this match 2–3 and thus failed to reach the semi-finals. In this match Hitzfeld scored one of his five goals in the tournament. In 1975, the 26-year-old Hitzfeld accepted an offer by the then German second division side VfB Stuttgart.[4] At the Swabian side, he was part of a legendary "100 goal offense" (the goal difference that season being 100:36) and in one match against SSV Jahn Regensburg he scored six goals, still the record for a 2. Bundesliga player.[5] After two years, in 1977, the team achieved promotion to the first division, the Bundesliga. Hitzfeld had by that time scored 33 goals in 55 league matches. In the Bundesliga, the club finished the season a remarkable fourth. Hitzfeld contributed five goals in 22 matches.[4] After three years with Stuttgart, Hitzfeld returned to what by then had become his second home, Switzerland. There he played from 1978 to 1980 with FC Lugano before joining FC Luzern, where he finished his playing career in 1983, aged 34.

Hitzfeld got his first coaching position with FC Zug where he stayed for a year. In 1984 he followed an offer to coach FC Aarau where he settled for four years. His tenure there was crowned with his first title as coach, the 1985 Swiss Cup. Soon he attracted also the attention of the major Swiss club Grasshopper in Zürich. Between 1988 and 1991, he gained another four trophies there, starting with a repeat of his cup victory by the end of his first season.[6] The next year he followed up with the double before finishing his engagement with the defence of the Swiss Championship in 1991.[7]

In 1991, Hitzfeld received an offer from Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, which had just finished the season tenth. In his first year, he and his assistant Michael Henke, with whom he would collaborate for the next 13 years, took the team to second spot in the league, securing a 1992–93 UEFA Cup place. The following season Dortmund reached the finals of this competition, but both matches were lost against Juventus. In 1995, he gained his first Bundesliga title with Dortmund, their first trophy since the DFB-Pokal in 1989, and Hitzfeld’s first trophy in Germany. 1995–96 saw a successful defence of the title, but the great triumph had to wait for another year: in 1997, Dortmund finished third in the league, but reached the UEFA Champions League final where another encounter with Juventus was due. This time Borussia prevailed 3–1 in Munich’s Olympiastadion against the team from northern Italy which featured Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, and Christian Vieri amongst others. For his success, Hitzfeld was rewarded for the first time with the “World Coach of the Year“” award,[1] but as frictions with the team had come to a head he was promoted out of the firing line to the position of sports manager with the club, where he witnessed his successor Nevio Scala taking Borussia Dortmund to win the 1997 Intercontinental Cup against Cruzeiro from Brazil.

In 1998, Hitzfeld was hired by Germany's most successful club, FC Bayern Munich. In his first year he led the club to renewed championship glories, winning the league title by a record margin. However, the club lost the DFB-Pokal final to Werder Bremen on penalties. Most important was their run to the Champions League final. The final is remembered for the dramatic Manchester United comeback inside the injury time period. Trailing 1–0, United scored two goals in stoppage time, condemning Bayern to a stunning defeat.

In the next season, domestic success was improved upon with Bayern winning the double. After winning by a record margin last season Bayern won on a heartbeat finish this season. Hitzfeld's team depended on the neighbours from Unterhaching to beat Bayer Leverkusen on the last day play to secure the title. The DFB-Pokal final was won against Bremen, the team which beat Bayern in the previous final. In the Champions League, Bayern was stopped in the semi-final by eventual winners Real Madrid. In 2000–01, Hitzfeld led Bayern not only to the league championship hat-trick, but once again into the Champions League final, defeating Manchester United and defending champions Real Madrid en route. This time the side from Munich prevailed, albeit it took a penalty shoot-out against Valencia. This made Hitzfeld only the second coach after Ernst Happel to win the major European trophy with two different teams. Again, he found himself recognized with the honour of "World Coach of the Year",[7] but this time he remained in control over his team in the ensuing 2001 Intercontinental Cup final against Boca Juniors from Argentina. A sole goal by Ghanaian defender Samuel Kuffour in extra-time made it an evening to celebrate for the general and his team. By then the team had a tendency to put in lacklustre performances and in the end had to make do with third place in the league.

In the 2002–03 season, Bayern once more dominated German football, claiming the league title[8] four matches before the end of the Bundesliga season.[9] With a 3–1 win over Kaiserslautern Hitzfeld's team secured another double. When this was followed by a season of less impressive football, yielding no title, the club renounced the remaining year of the contract of the 55-year old coach.[10]

Hitzfeld had an offer to take over the reins of the German national team, but preferred to take a break from the game.[11] On 1 February 2007, following the sacking of Felix Magath, he returned to Bayern Munich. Hopes that he might lead Bayern to another championship,[12] despite trailing by eight points with 15 games remaining were not fulfilled, though. Eventually Bayern finished fourth, thereby failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in more than a decade. A multi-million spending spree before the new season helped Hitzfeld to lead the club to a new phase of domestic dominance, winning the DFB-Ligapokal, the DFB-Pokal, and the league championship. After several high wins and lots of draws, Bayern's 2007–08 UEFA Cup campaign ended in the semi-final with a humbling 4–0 defeat by eventual winner Zenit St. Petersburg. During the season Hitzfeld had announced that he would not be available for another season at the helm and Jürgen Klinsmann became his successor at Bayern.

Hitzfeld took over as coach of the Swiss national team in summer 2008. Switzerland finished top of its qualifying group to reach the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Although Switzerland won their opening match 1–0 against eventual champions Spain, they went on to lose 1–0 against Chile and get a 0–0 draw against Honduras which eliminated their chances of qualifying from Group H.

Hitzfeld led Switzerland to a second successive World Cup as his team remained unbeaten throughout the 2014qualifying campaign. He announced his retirement from coaching after the World Cup with Vladimir Petković taking over on July 1, 2014.[14]

Hitzfeld was born in Lörrach in the valley of the Wiese in southwest Germany, close to the Swiss border. He grew up there and is the youngest of five children. Hitzfeld said[15] that when he first left Bayern in 2004 he 'felt burnt out' and 'was a bit depressed', and 'it took me two years to recover.' He then had 'the best years at Bayern' on his return. He stated his views that people should not get too excited about things, not get too down about things, and treat each situation individually. His uncle was the World War II general Otto Hitzfeld.